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Ensuring Resiliency in Our Plant Genetic Resources
Friday, November 9, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend
Cost is $55 with lunch. Pre-register here.
Farmers throughout history have relied on saving and sharing planting stock for farm production, trading, and crop improvement. This has been particularly important during times of social and environmental change. Consolidation has intensified in the international seed and germplasm industry, while support for public repositories and plant breeding programs has decreased. The result has been a reduction in genetic diversity and a decline in local germplasm management. There is a concern that large-scale, high-input breeding efforts are not producing varieties best-suited for organic and low-input farms. In an age when less than one percent of the U.S. population claims farming as an occupation, the agenda on many of these issues is being set with little public involvement. We in the Pacific Northwest are at the forefront of the global movement to preserve and provide public access to agro-biodiversity, and to develop varieties adapted to low-input, organic conditions.
Speakers with a wide range of influence and expertise will offer a diversity of viewpoints on national and local issues pertaining to plant genetic resources. Conflicts can arise between different groups about which strategies support or undermine food system sustainability. Our goal is to facilitate open, honest dialogue about our shared plant resources.
Please join us to learn more about the future of germplasm management and utilization, and how you can have a greater influence on the future of our food system.
Symposium Agenda
8:30 am Welcome and Introductions
Lucas Patzek, WSU Thurston County Extension
Anne Schwartz, Tilth Producers of Washington
8:40 am The Role of the Extension Service
Lucas Patzek, WSU Thurston County Extension
WSU Extension has played a major role in on-farm and adaptive research to improve crop varieties suitable for diverse Washington environments, and has complemented the work of WSU breeders by offering courses in every county. How will WSU Extension influence the future course of germplasm development, managment and utilization, and ultimately, the future of our regional system?
8:55 am Overview of the Genetic Commons
Laura Lewis, WSU Jefferson County Extension
An historical look at plant genetic resources, from early domestication to present, will allow us to focus on development, screening and selection for organic production systems during an era of climate change, habitat destruction, loss of agricultural land, and governance of intellectual property. How do we strengthen our plant genetic commons and guarantee public access, when current use of plant genetic resources has been dominated by large corporations and parallel agricultural development agendas?
9:35 am Public and Private Seed Systems
Rebecca McGee, Legume Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS
Developments that helped fuel the green revolution, international trade agreements, and globalization of economies have resulted in profound changes in the agricultural landscape. There have been unexpected consequences to the international germplasm repositories that maintain the diversity so vital to food security and agricultural development, as well as to plant breeders and seed companies. We will discuss the history of germplasm collection, public breeding and privatization of the US seed industry, and public access to germplasm through the USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).
10:50 am What is a Genetically Modified Organism?
Michael Neff, WSU Associate Professor of Crop Biotechnology
This presentation will cover genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and transgenic crops including methods, pros and cons, and biotechnology. The goal is to discuss the science behind the technology so that knowledgeable opinions can be developed on a case-by-case basis.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch
1:10 pm Role of Local Seed Companies
Brian Campbell, Owner, Uprising Seeds
Our challenge as a seed company and a farming community is to create alternative models to fund public breeding that foster a dynamic on-farm atmosphere of variety improvement and development. At Uprising Seeds, we trial, evaluate and improve open pollinated lines and distribute the best material to the growing community as viable alternatives to hybrids.
Tom Hunton, Camas Country Mill, LLC
We test many varieties before we decide to grow them for production, and we rely on public programs to provide baseline information to test on our farm. The challenges on a larger scale farm that is both organic and conventional include equipment sharing and clean up. We focus on milling and food quality aspects of varieties we test, in addition to their productivity in organic systems.
2:00 pm Panel Discussion
Lucas Patzek (moderator), Rebecca McGee, Michael Neff, Laura
Lewis, Brian Campbell and Tom Hunton
3:00 pm Bringing it Home – Where Do We Go from Here?
Anne Schwartz, Tilth Producers of Washington
What are we missing, what are we losing and what are we gaining in the current germplasm management landscape? How can we help universities and elected officials slow the loss of support for the common germplasm trust? What have we learned today about how to increase breeder and grower access to publically held germplasm? How can we apply public pressure to preserve the “public” in our diverse germplasm holdings and public breeding programs?
4:00 Symposium Closing
Lucas Patzek, WSU Thurston County Extension